Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita, III announced that 18 year-old Jason Williams of Buffalo was found guilty after trial of four counts of Robbery in the First Degree and one count of Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree after a seven-day jury trial before Erie County Court Judge Thomas P. Franczyk.

The conviction was related to a string of gunpoint robberies starting on May 13, 2014. In the early evening hours of May 13, 2014, the defendant and his codefendant, Davante Thompson, robbed a prostitute at gunpoint and stole her money and cellphone. Later that same evening, the defendant and Thompson robbed a cab driver and his friend at gun point. During the course of the robbery, both the cab driver and the front seat passenger were shot. The cab driver, who was 23 years old at the time, suffered serious injuries. The cab driver was rushed to ECMC where multiple lifesaving surgeries were required during which he was placed in a medically induced coma for two weeks. The defendant used the stolen cellphone from the prior robbery to call the cab.

The defendant was also convicted of stealing another unrelated victim’s van on May 16, 2014. The Buffalo Police found the van an hour after it was stolen parked on the same street where the cab driver was shot. Inside the glove compartment of the stolen vehicle was the same illegal gun used in the shooting. The gun was later linked to the defendant through DNA testing.

The case was successfully prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney John Patrick Feroleto a member of DA Sedita’s Tactical Prosecution Unit and Assistant District Attorney Jeremy Murray a member of the Felony Trial Bureau. Williams faces a maximum sentence of 50 years in state prison when he is sentenced on May 27, 2015 before Judge Franczyk. Williams’ codefendant previously pleaded guilty to three counts of Attempted Robbery in the First Degree and faces a maximum sentence of 45 years in state prison when he is sentenced on May 4, 2015 before Erie County Court Judge Shelia DiTullio.